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    Galveston
    Unavailable
    Galveston
    Unavailable
    Galveston
    Ebook507 pages9 hours

    Galveston

    By Sean Stewart

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "Terrific fun." — Publishers Weekly
    "Eerie, enthralling, [and] flavorsome." — Kirkus Reviews
    "Fantasy novels don't get much better than Galveston." — Washington Post Book World
    Twenty years ago, a flood of magic swept over the island of Galveston. Isolated from the rest of the world, deprived of electricity and outside resources, the residents carry on in two separate worlds: the "normal" half; and Carnival, an endless Mardi Gras celebration populated by minotaurs and other monsters, where the music never stops and miracles abound. But now the community leaders who saved the island from chaos and guard the gates between the two halves are aging and their system is faltering. Sloan Gardner, the daughter of one of the gatekeepers, discovers how to cross between the two Galvestons and becomes a link between a father and son whose destinies hold the key to the survival of both worlds. Can a generation with no knowledge of the world before the flood maintain the barrier between the realms of magic and reality, or will the island descend into anarchy?
    A dramatic exploration of such themes as love, friendship, and honesty, Galveston offers a compelling view of life as a game of chance. Library Journal praised the author of this gripping novel as possessing a "brand of magical realism [that] combines psychological drama with otherworldly images to create a rich tapestry that lingers long after the end of the tale."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateSep 20, 2017
    ISBN9780486825779
    Unavailable
    Galveston

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    Reviews for Galveston

    4/5

    100 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      In 2004, waves of magic engulf the world and pull it into madness. In Galveston, Texas, two women hold back the flood of magic. With the help of the Mardi Gras Krewes and Momus, a trickster god, Jane and Odessa quarantine the magic into a never-ending carnival; anyone who demonstrates magic is killed or sent there. A generation later, Jane is dying and her only child, Sloane, bargains with Momus so she won't have to watch her mother die. But of course, there is a loophole--and Sloane is caught up in it.

      This is an intense book. Classism and privilege are hugely important. Cut off from the outside world, Galveston is on the verge of slipping into the dark ages. I felt drained after I read this, and spent the next two or three days in a terrible mood. If it were less emotionally damaging, I would easily rate this as 4 stars--as it is, I'm still sick when I think of some scenes.
    • 5/5
      Excellent novel, I liked it much more than the Night Watch. Play the hand you're dealt. The poker bits reminded me a bit like that Tim Powers. Is poker inherently fantastical?There's something very great and disturbing in the way that magic is presented as wonderful, strange and bizarrely beautiful, everything magic was ever meant or thought to be, and yet, and because of that, horrifying and completely inimical to the modern human.
    • 5/5
      This may be Sean Stewart's best novel, though it is not my favourite. Here we see Stewart displaying full mastery of his prose, his characterization, and his depiction of a fully realized magical world. Be warned though, neither the characters, nor the world presented, are always pleasant to behold.

      We follow the story of Josh Cane, a young man with a chip on his shoulder due to the constrained circumstances of his life that are the result of his father's loss of a pivotal game of poker. Add to this the fact that Josh lives in a world after the occurence of a magical apocalypse wherein everyone has to work hard to survive, not only due to their physical circumstances, but also due to the perilous proximity of the magical Otherworld, and you have the makings of a pretty downbeat story. Stewart himself has described this book as: "...your Basic "Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Everything, Girl becomes her Own Evil Twin, Boy Is Framed For Murder and Sent Along With Sidekick To Be Eaten By Cannibals, and Things Get Worse When The Weather Turns Bad" story." That about sums it up.

      Of course there's more to the novel than a simple encapsulation, even one given by the author, can provide. First of all we have, once again, Stewart's excellent characters: Our main character Josh is by turns repulsive and worthy of pity; a man who had expected a life of much greater comfort than the one he ended up with and who is unable to let go of the bitterness he feels as a result of his circumstances. The only person who seems able to stand Josh is his best friend Ham Mather, the gentle giant who loyally accompanies Josh in his exile that is brought about by Josh's infatuation with the third of our heroes: Sloane Gardner, the heir-apparent to both the political and magical leaders of Galveston whose desire to escape from her responsibilities leads to disaster. Standing in the background of the story like a looming spectre is the distorted and eternal carnival otherworld presided over by Momus, a godlike trickster who will give blessings to mortals courageous, or foolhardy, enough to pay the price. As always, be careful what you wish for.

      As noted, Josh's story goes from bad to worse and his circumstances, both physical and personal, can become hard to stomach. You think George R. R. Martin can put his characters through the ringer? He could pick up a few tips from Sean Stewart here. There are also no easy resolutions. Stewart always avoids the easy answer or pat conclusion. Our characters do get resolutions of sorts, and they certainly grow and change as people, but nothing is exactly as one might have expected and nothing follows the standard Hollywood paradigm for such things. This is all to the good I say and for all its difficulty, you'd be hard pressed to find a better told story than the one you'll find in _Galveston_.

      I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point for Stewart: go to _Resurrection Man_, or _The Night Watch_ for that. Both take place in the same world deluged by magic, though at different points in its history. They are a bit more friendly to their protagonists, though they never quite let them off the hook either. No matter where you start though, you're in for a real treat with Sean Stewart. He's truly an excellent writer of great talent.
    • 4/5
      A highly original, gritty fantasy. In the year 2004, there was a Flood -- not of water, but of magic, which has destroyed most of civilization and left twisted magical beings in its wake. The Flood hit Galveston, TX in the middle of the Mardi Gras celebration, but thanks to the work of the witch woman Odessa, the island survived. Now, half the island struggles to survive with failing technology and ever-decreasing supplies of modern medicine, eking subsistence out of the sea. In the other half of the island, it is perpetual Mardi Gras, perpetually 2004, and there is cold beer and music and magic, but once you enter Mardi Gras, you can never leave. When Sloane Gardner enters Mardi Gras to make a deal with its master and protector, Momus, it transpires that she is one of the few who can pass freely between the two worlds, and this will mean great changes for Galveston...The world of Galveston is populated with fascinating characters, all of them flawed. This isn't a feel-good novel; people are cynical, and petty, and cruel. But there is still a sense of hope and wonder. Great stuff.
    • 4/5
      Magic is back, it comes back like a hurricane. No one is left unchanged, magic is not unaffected either. It’s the real world versus the Marci Gras. It will be a while before the world becomes adjusted to the new normal.
    • 3/5
      This one is set in the same world-premise as Stewart's Resurrection Man and The Night Watch. Magic swept into the world like a hurricane in 2004 and humans in Galveston have been trying to ward it off for nearly a generation as the remnants of civilization crumble. The fantasy was darker than I've been in the mood for, but the narrative was extremely compelling - it wouldn't let me go.